U.S. patent number 5,608,707 [Application Number 08/594,510] was granted by the patent office on 1997-03-04 for recording system for signalong disc player.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Pioneer Electronic Corporation. Invention is credited to Toshiji Daito, Masaya Ogawa, Shinichi Takata.
United States Patent |
5,608,707 |
Ogawa , et al. |
March 4, 1997 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Recording system for signalong disc player
Abstract
A storing portion is provided for storing a plurality of
recordable discs, and a recording device is for recording an
accompaniment reproduced by a singalong disc player and a vocal
part sang at the accompaniment. A loading device is provided for
carrying a disc between the storing portion, and the recording
device. An ejecting mechanism is provided for ejecting a recorded
disc.
Inventors: |
Ogawa; Masaya (Saitama-ken,
JP), Daito; Toshiji (Saitama-ken, JP),
Takata; Shinichi (Saitama-ken, JP) |
Assignee: |
Pioneer Electronic Corporation
(Tokyo, JP)
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Family
ID: |
17561338 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/594,510 |
Filed: |
January 31, 1996 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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132353 |
Oct 6, 1993 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Oct 14, 1992 [JP] |
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4-275852 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
369/84;
369/30.32; G9B/17.056; G9B/27.001; G9B/27.012; G9B/7.005 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F
17/30 (20130101); G11B 7/0037 (20130101); G11B
17/228 (20130101); G11B 27/002 (20130101); G11B
27/034 (20130101); G11B 2220/218 (20130101); G11B
2220/2545 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G07F
17/30 (20060101); G11B 27/031 (20060101); G07F
17/00 (20060101); G11B 17/22 (20060101); G11B
27/00 (20060101); G11B 27/034 (20060101); G11B
7/0037 (20060101); G11B 7/00 (20060101); G11B
007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;369/47,49,84,48,33,4,34,32 ;360/18,19.1
;84/625,641,631,609,645 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hindi; Nabil
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Nikaido, Marmelstein, Murray &
Oram LLP
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
08/132,353, filed Oct. 6, 1993, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A recording system for a singalong optical disc player,
comprising:
disc outlet means;
a storing means for storing a plurality of recordable optical
discs;
selecting means for selecting a plurality of songs from the stored
optical disc:
loading means for carrying the optical disc between the storing
means, the recording device, and the disc outlet means;
input means for applying an audio signal including an accompaniment
reproduced by the singalong optical disc player and a vocal part
sang at the accompaniment to the recording device;
discharging means for discharging a recorded disc to the disc
outlet means; and
control means for controlling the recording system so as to be
operated in accordance with signals fed from the singalong optical
disc player, said control means including determining means for
determining that the singalong optical disc player is in a disc
playing state, said control means also for producing a recording
signal,
said recording device being responsive to said recording signal, to
thereby record information, said control means including finalizing
means responsive to an electrical ejection instruction to eject for
performing an electrical finalization for completing the recording
before ejecting the recorded optical disc.
2. The system according to claim 1 the control means including
determining means for determining that an optical disc set in the
disc player has no empty space, and for producing the electrical
ejection instruction.
3. The system according to claim 1 the control means including
determining means for determining that selected songs selected by
the selecting means have yet to be recorded, and for continuing to
produce the recording signal until the selected songs are
completely recorded.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recording system adapted to be
operated together with a singalong disc player for playing a disc
on which instrumental accompaniments of songs are recorded.
There has been a demand to record one's voice as he sings at the
accompaniment reproduced by the singalong disc player. In a
conventional recording system, the vocal and instrumental signals
are mixed and recorded on a magnetic tape loaded on a cassette tape
recorder. The recording system is manually operated to start the
recording at a timing each time a song is sung. However, the manual
operation is troublesome, and often ends in failure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a recording system
which is operatively connected with a singalong disc player so as
to automatically record audio data produced by the disc player.
According to the present invention there is provided a recording
system for a singalong disc player comprising disc outlet means, a
storing portion for storing a plurality of recordable discs, a
recording device for recording information on the recordable disc,
loading means for carrying the disc between the storing portion,
the recording device and the disc outlet means, input means for
applying an audio signal including an accompaniment reproduced by
the singalong disc player and a vocal part sang at the
accompaniment to the recording device, discharging means for
discharging a recorded disc to the disc outlet means, and control
means for controlling the recording system so as to be operated in
accordance with signals fed from the singalong disc player. A
charge receiving means may be provided for operating the recording
system in accordance with a received charge.
Other objects and features of this invention will become understood
from the following description with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a singalong disc player
system provided with a CD-R recorder according to the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the CD-R recorder of FIG. 1;
and
FIG. 3 is a flowchart describing the operation of the CD-R
recorder.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, a singalong disc player 3 to which the present
invention is applied reads recorded data on a singalong disc 1 and
reproduces audio signals representing instrumental accompaniments
of songs and a video signal representing pictorial images
appropriate for each song.
A vocal signal picked up by a microphone 2 is fed to the disc
player 3 and mixed with the reproduced audio signal. The mixed
audio signal is amplified and fed to a speaker 5. The video signal,
after an appropriate signal processing, is applied to a CRT display
4.
The mixed audio signal is further fed to a compact disc-recordable
(CD-R) recorder 6 wherein the mixed signal, that is the vocal part
and the accompaniment part of a song, is recorded on a CD-R 7. The
CD-R recorder 6 may be provided with a charge receiving device so
that the CD-R recorder is operated to record a CD-R when a
predetermined charge is paid.
Referring to FIG. 2, the CD-R recorder 6 is applied with a control
signal from the singalong disc player 3 through an input terminal
10. The input terminal 10 is, for example a DIN8P terminal,
connected to the singalong disc player 3. The control signal
represents information necessary to operate the recorder 6 in
accordance with the operation of the disc player 3. Namely, the
control signals are, for example, a PLAY signal indicating that a
disc is currently played on the disc player 3, REM signal for
remote controlling the recorder 6, C-DOWN signal indicating that
the player 3 has been stopped playing, ACK signal indicating that
data are fed to the disc player 3 through operational keys.
The control signals are fed to a system controller 12 through a
commander interface 11. The system controller 12 is further applied
with output signals of a charge receiving device 13 and an input
device 14. When the input device 14 is operated to record the audio
signal on a CD-R 7, the system controller 12 applies a signal to a
display 15 to indicate necessary information for recording in
accordance with the output signals of the charge receiving device
13. The controller 12 further applies a signal to a mechanism
controller 16 to control the recording operation.
The CD-R recorder 6 further has an input terminal 24 to which the
mixed audio signal of the vocal and instrumental parts of a song is
fed from the disc player 3. The audio signal is fed to an eight to
fourteen modulation (EFM) encoder 26 through an A/D converter 25.
The EFM endcoder 26 converts the digital audio signal into digital
modulation codes enabling the audio signal to be recorded on the
CD-R.
The output signal of the EFM encoder 26 is fed to a recording
section 22 in a recording device 17 through a servo system 27. The
recording section 22 comprises a recording head 21 and a spindle
motor 20 for rotating a CD-R 7. The servo system comprises a
spindle servo system for controlling the spindle motor 20, focusing
servo system, slider servo system, and track-following servo
system, each of which is for controlling the recording head 21. The
output signal is fed to the mechanism controller 16.
The recording device 17 stores a plurality of unrecorded CD-Rs 7. A
loading mechanism 19 controlled in accordance with a signal from
the mechanism controller 16 transfers one of the CD-Rs to a
turntable (not shown) provided in the recording section 22. The
coded audio data from the EFM encoder 26 is written on the CD-R 7
by the recording head 21. Thereafter, the loading mechanism 19
transfers the recorded CD-R 7 toward an ejecting mechanism 23 which
ejects the disc out of the recording device 17 in accordance with a
signal from the mechanism controller 16.
The operation of the present invention is described hereinafter
with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3. The routine is repeated
at a predetermined interval.
A user of the singalong disc player 3 selects a plurality of songs
which he desires to sing. In order to record the singer's voice on
the CD-R 7, the user inserts coins, token money or bills in the
charge receiving device 13 of the CD-R recorder 6. If the recorder
6 is in an automatic recording mode, where the selected songs are
automatically recorded when sung, a PLAY key provided in the input
device 14 is depressed. The CD-R recorder 6 may be adapted to
distribute recorded CD-Rs free of charge.
At a step 100, it is determined that the charge is paid. When a
CD-R 7 is not yet set at a recording position of the recording
section 22 in the recording device 17, the program goes from a step
101 to a step 109 where the loading mechanism 19 of the recording
device 6 is operated. After the disc 7 is set at the recording
position, it is determined whether the set CD-R 7 is recordable at
a step 102, that is, whether the CD-R has an empty space where data
can be written, or the space is full so that the data cannot be
recorded any more.
If the CD-R is still recordable, the program goes to a step 103
where it is determined whether the user has instructed to stop the
recording and eject the CD-R out of the recorder 6 as described
hereinafter. When continuing the recording, the program proceeds to
a step 104 where it is determined that the next song selected at
the singalong disc player 3 is to be recorded. If the song is to be
recorded, in the automatic recording mode, the program goes from a
step 105 to a step 106 where it is confirmed that the PLAY key is
depressed.
In a manual recording mode, the program proceeds to a step 108 from
the step 105. The user operates the input device 14 before
recording each song. The recording is temporarily stopped (step
110) if the input device 14 is not operated to record a desired
song at the step 108.
Thereafter, the program goes from the step 106 or the step 108 to a
step 111 where the audio signal fed from the singalong disc player
3 through the input terminal 24 is recorded on the CD-R 7.
The operation is repeated until all of the selected songs are
recorded. If the user does not desire to record the next song, the
program goes from the step 104 to the step 110, thereby temporarily
stopping the recording.
In order to end the recording, the input device 14 is operated to
compulsorily eject the recorded CD-R 7. Hence the program goes from
the step 103 to a step 107 where it is determined whether the
system is finalized, that is a process for completing the recording
has been executed. If not, the system is finalized at a step 113,
and thereafter, the loading mechanism 19 carries the CD-R to the
ejecting mechanism 23, thereby ejecting the CD-R out of the CD-R
recorder 6 at a step 112.
If the CD-R set at the recording portion is full and can no longer
store data, the program goes from the step 102 to step 107.
In the recording system of the present invention, an accompaniment
reproduced by the disc player and a vocal part sung to the
accompaniment are automatically recorded on a recordable disc. The
disc is automatically loaded and ejected out in accordance with the
operation of the disc player so that songs are recorded without
fail.
While the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention
has been shown and described, it is to be understood that this
disclosure is for the purpose of illustration and that various
changes and modifications may be made without departing from the
scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
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